Patrick O’Connor, Associate Dean of College Counseling at Cranbrook-Kingswood School, writes a steady stream of articles with smart, sensible advice for both students and counselors.  Here’s one he wrote last year for counselors about how to help a student when a college says no. What’s particularly refreshing is that he doesn’t focus on the appeals process or any other wild-swing strategy to reverse the decision—those tactics rarely work and prevent students from, as O’Connor calls it, looking forward.  Instead, he reminds counselors just how important it is to listen, and to help a student focus on what will happen rather than what has happened.  Might even be worth a read for parents, too.